The ultimate park and ride

Move aside Willy Wonka — your claim on the greatest glass elevator in the world is well and truly over.

That’s not a statement we make lightly, either. But with the acclaimed Porsche Design team having just unveiled plans for a tower block in Miami, Florida, complete with parking spots on each of its 57 floors, we feel that it’s more than justified.

With a nod to Hollywood sci-fi films, a robotic arm will scoop up the owner’s car and draw it into a glass lift, before whisking the driver and car up to the required floor and parking the vehicle outside their home.

And to compensate for the inevitable lack of exercise that this unique facility will provide apartment owners, there will be a swimming pool on every other level.

The Porsche Design Tower (artist’s impression, left) will cost a reported $560m (£361m) to build, with each of the 132 apartments going on the market for anything up to $9m (£5.8m) each.